Newspaper in the worm farm – what about all that coloured ink?Reader submitted

Hi, I read everywhere that it is okay to put strips of wet newspaper in my worm farm, but most of the papers now are filled with coloured ads or photos – won't that dye/ink leech out into my bin and be harmful to my worms?

05/11/2012  2:42 am by Greg Roughan - Editor Green Ideas

Hi Wordsmith - I'm going to pull apart a copy of Green Ideas and put a few pages it in the wormfarm and the compost just to see what happens - I'll post some pics! But that doesn't really answer your question about inks (though we do use a vegetable-based ink). I have been thinking about this a bit as my 5-month-old daughter loves ripping up and sucking on the newspaper while I read it, leaving me news-less and her covered in coloured ink. You'd think that something used to wrap fish and chips would have to be non-toxic, but you never know. Will look into it. Anyone else out there know about ink?

05/11/2012  3:00 am by Wordsmith65

Thanks for that. I did read somewhere about not using 'glossy fashion magazines' so I assume that ink is different. It was as I started to rip up the paper, I noticed that there is just so much now that is in colour, so be great to know the ink is non-toxic (and yes, especially when the young’uns enjoy munching on it too). Thanks!!